This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1912. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has a long industrial history dating to at least 1912, when the Olympic Ice and Machine Company occupied the site and stored diesel fuel and Bunker C oil for an industrial boiler. Other historical occupants included West Coast Bottling Works and Lundgren Dealer Supply. Contaminated soil was first encountered and excavated in 1993, with approximately 12 cubic yards removed; a second excavation took place in 2016 during new construction. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received a No Further Action determination, with a Restrictive Covenant now in place to manage residual groundwater contamination through institutional controls and five-year site reviews. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The contamination at Freighthouse Square traces to industrial fuel storage and boiler operations that began more than seven decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Documented remediation expenditures — two phases of soil excavation, groundwater management, and the ongoing institutional controls required by the Restrictive Covenant — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 industrial operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators during that window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.